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Location: Western Elko County, Carlin Tunnels District
Directions: Along Old US 40 at the the former Carlin Canyon Rest Area
(Access via Exit 282, 1 mile east of Carlin from I-80)
Location: 3
Visibility: 9
Accessibility: 4
Marker type: St (L)
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Date Conquered: 9/23/07
Quick Description: A marker commemorating a well-traveled route by emigrant parties, including the mention of Nevada's first paved state highway.
Signed: No -- Although originally signed, the dying of the rest stop and the Interstate's takeover relinquished all traces of signage forever.
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NOTES: The SHPO lists the following directions for #50: "on Interstate Highway 80 at the Carlin Canyon Rest Area." Here's what the directions don't tell you... Carlin Canyon Rest Area no longer exists! Any marker hunter who tries to find such a rest area along I-80 will pass it completely without even seeing it. "Carlin Canyon Rest Area" sits in Carlin Canyon inaccessible from the Interstate. Before the Interstate came to be, US 40 was the only route that spanned across Nevada; along US 40, shops, motels, and rest areas, were built to provide respite from the long drive across Nevada. When I-80 was built, US 40 lost its whole purpose hence, its shops, motels and yes... its rest areas. What you see below is what's left of Carlin Canyon Rest Area...
 Considering it's been out of use for thirty years, time has been patient with this old rest area! Today, the old rest stop serves little purpose; the very access road (US 40) dead ends about a mile north of this spot, a sad reminder of how the interstate literally took everything away.
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To find this rest area, and lonely #50, read the following directions carefully. First, begin by exiting the interstate at Exit 280 (Carlin) and make your way to Chestnut Street, also known as US 40. Make a left to head eastbound out of Carlin. In about 2 miles, this sign will greet you...
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If there's any traffic behind you, most will turn left at this junction, placing them back on the interstate. To access #50, you must keep heading straight, following the original road of US 40. After two short, but very scenic miles, you will enter Carlin Canyon right alongside the Humboldt River. Look to the left to see elusive #50 and its even-more elusive rest area. You can thank me later.
Full Description:
Exact description as reads ...
This is only 1 of 2 state markers with a missing plaque -- therefore, as of this date, all text for this marker is gone. The following description is the text taken the Nevada State Archives and the State Historic Preservation Office themselves...
In December, 1828, Peter Skene Ogden and his trapping brigade (Hudson's Bay Company's Fifth Snake Country Expedition) were the first whites to enter here. Joseph Paul, one of Ogden's trappers, died nearby--the first white man to die and be buried in the Humboldt county.
The Bidwell-Bartleson Party was the forerunner of the 1841-1870 California Emigrant Trail tide through the canyon--then known as Wall Defile or Frémont Canyon. Late in 1845, John Frémont dispatched his Kern-Talbot-Walker subsection down the Humboldt; they traversed this canyon with difficulty on November 10. In September, 1846, the Reed-Donner Party, enroute to cannibalism and death in the deep snows of the Sierra Nevada, viewed the canyon.
The Central Pacific's Chinese track gangs constructed the railroad (now Southern Pacific) through here in December, 1868. Subsequently, the canyon became known as Carlin or Moleen Canyon. The Western Pacific, second transcontinental rail link across Nevada, was constructed in 1907.
In 1913, Nevada Route 1, the first auto road, took over the abandoned (1903) C.P. grade through the canyon. In 1920, Route 1 became the Victory Highway, and in 1926, U.S. Highway 40. In its freeway phase, it is now designated Interstate 80.
 #50 is one of only two historic markers in Nevada with a missing plaque. Seems like Nevada forgot about the marker when they relinquished US 40 and its rest area! Thousands of people drive by this area everyday without ever knowing what's here. It's likely without my directions above, this marker would be forgotten forever.
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One thing's for sure: US 40 traversed some beautiful scenery, as prevalent here through Carlin Canyon. About a half-mile south of where this photo (seen below) was taken, US 40 ends pathetically at a jersey barrier on the other side of the Carlin Tunnel. Carlin Canyon is one of a few places left in Nevada where US 40 sits amazingly intact!
 At left is the Humboldt River, a melancholy waterway that has provided and still provides respite for all people crossing the Silver State. If only this river could speak...
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